Two conservation groups have partnered to protect a portion of North Pender Island that’s home to coastal Douglas fir forests, a threatened bird species and an essential water source for locals.
Raincoast Conservation Foundation and Pender Islands Conservancy Association are hoping to raise $395,000 by the end of April to purchase the nearly 13-acre property, a combination of wetlands and diverse forests that stretches from the Magic Lake Estates subdivision to the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve.
Erin O’Brien, community outreach and project co-ordinator for the conservancy association, said the relatively small parcel of land has high biodiversity and is home to a wetland that’s becoming rarer as development encroaches on wild spaces.
With real estate “going crazy” on the Gulf Islands, there were concerns that the land would be purchased for residential use, she said.
“And of course, that’s going to involve losing trees just to make room for homes,” O’Brien said.
If they can raise enough to buy the property, the groups plan to put a conservation covenant on the land to protect it from future development, even if it changes hands. They’d like to create a low-impact hiking trail on a ridge surrounding the wetland, but will prioritize preserving the ecological integrity over recreational use.
“It’s not going to be managed like a CRD park where human recreation tends to be prioritized,” O’Brien said.
Olive-sided flycatchers, a bird species considered threatened due to habitat loss, live in the increasingly threatened coastal Douglas fir forests found on the property. The wetland, near the property’s northwest corner, is a nesting site for several bird species.
The property is located in the Buck Lake Reservoir watershed, which supplies drinking water to Magic Lake residents. Current regulations allow up to 1,000 gallons of water to be pumped from the wetland per day.
No one lives on the land right now, but the conservation groups want to prevent a potential buyer from pumping water out.
“That also has huge implications for our water supply on the island, which is limited,” O’Brien said.
Raincoast and the conservancy have been talking to the two Victoria-based owners of the property and they recently submitted an offer to purchase the property, which gives them five and a half months to raise at least 75 per cent of the total price. The owners have agreed to a three-month extension until the end of July if they can hit that mark.
Limited in their fundraising efforts by the pandemic, the groups are planning virtual events, such as a silent auction, to raise the funds. They’re also applying for grants and seeking community donations.
